


Performing a Hard Reset

by Strikeslip_Fault



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: A3! Rarepair Week 2020, Established Relationship, M/M, Nightmares, No Beta, Restless Night, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25316854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strikeslip_Fault/pseuds/Strikeslip_Fault
Summary: Now that Guy has begun to reclaim his past, he is haunted more and more each night by memories he thought he had thrown away. Azuma decides to intercept.
Relationships: Guy/Yukishiro Azuma
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: A3! Rare Pairs Week 2020





	Performing a Hard Reset

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler heavy for Guy's story. I'd avoid if you haven't read about the android yet, but if you haven't go read and then stan him. He needs more fans~

It was the same thing every night

Both men would bid each other a good night and then proceed to have a fully rested night only awakened by the sound of birds chirping in the morning. Except, it never got to that last part. On the nights Azuma would retire early, not finding a drinking buddy, he would often be awoken to the sounds of Guy grunting or trying to combat whatever haunted his dreams. Azuma would monitor him to see if he needed assistance, but after a few shakes, Guy would settle back down and Azuma would be able to reclaim his stake in the dreamland.

Until Guy shook again.

Azuma tried his hardest not to intervene with Guy’s sleeping patterns, knowing the man would need some time to heal. He had just found out that he was not a cyborg but a man programmed by his own trauma, and the dreams would come back often. He gave Guy as much space as he needed, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there was some way he could help. After the third day of repeated nightmares, Azuma decided it would be best if he intervened. He awoke earlier than Guy, like any normal morning, and prepared his day, wondering how he should address his concerns. While he laid out his plans for today, he heard a strong yawn as Guy awoke.

“Good morning Guy.” Azuma started the conversation seeing the man slowly wake up slightly disoriented.   
  
“Morning Yukishiro. Did my tossing keep you up again?” Guy rose from his sleeping position to engage in a proper conversation.   
  
“Just a bit. Have you had any thoughts as to why you can’t seem to rest peacefully.” Azuma had some ideas why but it was not his place to say.

“The same as before. All my memories come flooding in at once, some better than others. Every time I am forced to relive certain ones, I feel frozen as if I’m not allowed to escape.”

“You know, I’ve had clients with similar issues. They never fully disclose what’s going on but with me they do enjoy a full night’s rest. Maybe we should try the same?” Azuma knew he shouldn’t be offering his body at a time like this but he had little else he could offer, beyond some good tea.   
  
“If you would have me. You said you sleep with your clients right? Would that require me to do anything prior?”   
  
“Fufufu, we’re only sleeping together. Nothing is needed except perhaps your favorite pillow.”

“Okay. Thank you, Yukishiro. Should we start this tonight?”   
  
“Let’s.” On that note both men nodded at each other in agreement and began their days. 

\------

It was evening time. 10pm to be exact. Guy sat a bit anxious in his dormitory bed toying with the edge of his sheets as we waited for Azuma to arrive. He wasn’t nervous at all about having another person share his bed, since that was something he used to do as a child prior to him working for Citron, but he was a bit worried he’d let Yukishiro down. He personally was not used to people constantly looking out for him but he couldn’t refuse all of the winter troupe’s requests otherwise he might come off as rude. 

Azuma slowly sashayed into the room, finding the light switch, the telltale sign of alcohol on his breath. He probably found Sakyo again to partake in another small round of drinks or found Omi making late night treats and decided to join. There was a slight pang near his heart and Guy felt what he knew was irritation. He only felt that way when the autumn troupe was discussed so he decided to catalog those feelings, hoping to determine the reasons he was so against the autumn troupe. As he fumbled with his own thoughts, he failed to notice Azuma stood near the ladder to his bed until he heard a little laugh.   
  
“You know, if you are nervous we don’t have to do this. I can ask what others do to help sleep maybe?”   
  
“I appreciate your worry but I am not nervous. I just started to think about something and appear to have gotten distracted.”   
  
“Fufufu, if you say so.” After a few seconds, Azuma comfortably made his way onto Guy’s bed. Unsure what to do, Guy pushed his body into the wall leaving as much of the bed as he could for Azuma. Azuma scanned the situation and chuckled a little again.   
  
“Guy, I can’t do my job unless we’re intimate. It does not need to be sexual but we might end up sleeping next to each other.” As Azuma explained the process of his job, he laid down with his face towards the door. He waited patiently for Guy to join him, grateful he had turned the lights off as he entered the room. Guy looked like he began to comprehend what the situation called for and curled behind Azuma, arms pressed close, making sure not to increase any contact. Azuma appeared to have no qualms with their potential interaction, but Guy still had hesitations.   
  
“If it’s easier for you, you can put your arms around me. If you start to have any nightmares, I can try to help by massaging your hands or pulling your arms to wake you up.”

“Are you sure? That’s a lot to ask?”   
  
“Fufu, this used to be my job. It’ll be nothing out of the way for me.” Guy would repeat the question every 5 minutes methodically and Azuma would reassure him each time. After a few times, Azuma decided to calm Guy down by discussing simple topics like the weather or the next planned play for the theater. A few minutes passed before Guy eyelids started to close as he succumbed to sleep.   
  
Hearing him finally sleep, Azuma exhaled a little. He could hear Guy’s heartbeat and the nervousness until he distracted him. He was considerably grateful he was too consumed to not hear the loud beating of Azuma’s heart. When Sakyo walked past him earlier, he had not expected to drink as much as he did, but the fear of sleeping with a man he was interested in overtook his senses. Azuma was fully aware he would not sleep tonight and instead found solace in the arms of a man completely unaware of his true feelings.

\--

_ The dream he had was indistinguishable from the past dreams he had to defrag when he was still an android. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ He would walk around in a world of gray: nothing would be there in this world except him and the color gray. He hated it. He would run in directions for hours while nothing would change, except his stamina. Being in the body of his childhood self, he could run forever if needed, but it was like his dream wanted to remind him that he was restrained by the monotony of his life. When the feeling of nothing got too bad he would close his eyes and reopen them to see that he was now in the scenario he knew all too well between him and his step father.  _

_ He would see his mother and immediately run to her happy to find someone else. However, he could never talk. He would scream, shout, until his throat was hoarse and lost all the color in his eyes. Only then would his step father intervene and those words that damned him for years would come back. _

_ “You’re nothing but an android. There will be a use for you if you simply follow every order.” _

_ As his stepfather reached out to him to pull him away he would struggle and like his mother, nothing worked. He even tried to bite his arm once but all it resulted in was pain and he was still dragged away from his mom. When his father succeeded in pulling him away from his mother he would take him to a room where his body stood as an adult with soulless eyes. It would operate as his father demanded, remaining proper and only doing as those demanded him. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “See, that’s you! You have nothing to look forward to except serving our king.” His stepfather would then drag him to the body, to force him to become that android. At this point he’d stop struggling and simply cry, knowing there was no successful way to get out of this. He was destined to be an android, inevitably thrown aside once he lost his usefulness. He would also fall limp at this point. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ As he got closer to the current version of himself, prepared for the inevitable, he felt something on his left hand. He looked down to see a small hand covering his. He looked over to see a small boy with the purest white hair staring back at him. Surrounding him was white… camellias? Amazed at this new boy in his dream, the sound of his stepfather deafened as he felt the energy renewed in him. With the help of the small boy, he broke free, running as fast as he could from the shouts and robotic noises of the chaos he was in. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ The white haired boy continued to laugh as he looked back, making sure he was following. They were running in the gray void that he had run for days prior. However, as the boy turned a corner, colors began to assault his mind. The trees around him began to take on hues of green and the white hair boy’s eyes turned a gorgeous yellow. He wanted to say anything but was awestruck as the world around him gained color. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Fufu, this is where you belong. Come with me.” The boy slowed down a bit as they kept running. Guy wondered if the boy worked out as much as he needed, but he didn’t spend too much on it because that meant more time he could spend with his hero. The two both slowed down to a comfortable stroll looking around at the animals and people in the neighbor. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ After a long stroll down a weird street, the white hair boy’s eyes lit up. Apparently what they were seeking was close. Almost dragging Guy, the boy pulled him until they reached a vibrant yet slightly run down theater. Guy knew this place from memory: this was one of the acting places in Japan his dad had taken him to many years ago before his mother remarried. Shocked at the recollection of this memory, Guy looked over to see his hand now in the hand of a man with the same white hair as the boy who led him here. He looked down at himself to see that he too had grown. Scared for a second, he scanned his body, scared he had become the android his father told him he was. Patting himself with his spare hand, he realized he was still human and looked over to see the boy-now man smiling serenely at him. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Welcome home.” The voice that left the man’s voice was melodious and erased all fears Guy had in his heart. All the gray he used to fear was no longer a threat. He came to terms with the fact the gray was only remnants of a life he almost lost. With a grin to match that of the man’s, he tightened his grip on the man’s hand and the two walked in. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ \--  _

Guy opened his eyes, unused to waking up peacefully from slumber. He looked down to see that he was fully embraced with Azuma, hands intertwined in front of him. At first glance it looked as if Azuma had grabbed his hand while he was sleeping. He returned the favor by using his left hand’s thumb to massage the soft skin around Azuma’s hand. He relished in the peace of this morning allowing Azuma to sleep while he watched him. He truly was beautiful and he couldn’t imagine how many people had the fortune of holding him as they awoken. Positioning himself on his right arm, Guy smiled a bit, wondering what every night with Azuma would be like.   
  
Sensing the change in Guy, yellow eyes lazily open as if they were competing against gravity. Azuma looked down to see the small ring Guy was making on his hand and snickered a little. Here was the man fully fearful of any skinship now hovering over him as he readjusted to being away. Azuma rolled a bit leaning into Guy’s chest.   
  
“Did you sleep better last night?”    
  
“Yes, I did. And...it was thanks to you. Thank you for sharing my bed. I can’t quite remember the dream, but I do remember camellias?” Guy tried to resurface the parts of his dream but all he could remember was a small boy covered in flowers.   
  
“Camellias? Interesting...fufu. Well, if it helped you, I’ll gladly offer my body whenever you need it. Only for you though, okay? I can’t offer my services to everyone.” Azuma looked up to Guy hoping he understood what he was offering, covering his confession in a small laugh. Guy looked shocked a little, before the gears in his ex-android brain started to process what Azuma was giving him.   
  
“I might not need your services every night but if you would like to share my bed from here on out, I have no disagreements.” Azuma eyes widened at the blunt comment from a normally modest mouth. Before he could respond, Guy leaned down and kissed his forehead. He only lingered a bit of time before pulling away.   
  
“Well that settled that. My body is now yours. What would you like to do?”   
  
“Can we stay like this for a bit longer?” Guy had hoped his demand was not too selfish.   
  
“Of course. This is where you belong.” Hearing that, Guy felt his heart fill with the love missing in his life. He only nodded before laying back down, burying his head deep in Azuma’s hair. There was no gray left in his vision as the two men lazily enjoyed the rest of their morning together.

**Author's Note:**

> Fuyugumi has the most magic out of all other troupes. So was Azuma in Guy's dreams? Absolutely. Will he tell Guy he remembered what he saw? Probably someday.


End file.
